Here’s to my wife, Ann, who has given me 16 years of wedded bliss (plus five wonderful kids!) and still puts up with me as well as ever. Plus, she’s taking me to see The Dark Knight tonight instead of Mamma Mia! I’m a lucky man.
My family’s been in the newspapers around here a number of times lately, for various reasons. My sister Kim—who lives with her family in Shorewood, just north of Milwaukee—is heading up an effort to give every house in the village a reusable shopping bag.
Meanwhile, my son Ken’s photo was in the Janesville Messenger. We were at a Cinco de Mayo celebration at the middle school where my wife Ann was a school social worker. (She’s moving to a new building next year to concentrate more on helping homeless students in the district.)
Then Ann, Nick, Ken, and Helen appeared in the Stateline News as part of a photo montage about the Fourth of July celebration here in Beloit down at Riverside Park. We had a wonderful time watching the concert and the fireworks. The city managed to get the park cleaned up well despite the flooding from previous weeks, and enough people stayed away because of the flooding that we had great seats and lots of room to roam around.
Of course, there’s also the news that my father will be back in the courtroom “in a few weeks.”
ETA: Kim was on the evening news in Milwaukee too!
Happy birthday, America! Number 232 and counting.
The high temperature today in Beloit is predicted to be a stunningly appropriate 76° F. The flood waters have receded, and there are picnics and fireworks on the schedule for tonight.
I hope everyone out there has a wonderful day/weekend no matter where you might be.
Michael Turner, one of the best comic-book artists of my generation, died last night after a long battle with cancer. He was 37.
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Now for some good news.
I just found out that my father is coming back home today after nearly five weeks in the hospital. He’s doing much better, although he still has a good stretch of recovery ahead of him. I’m just glad to have him home again. Thanks to all of you who offered your support!
I just learned that James Perham died on May 31 of heart failure. I first met James many years ago when he was working for Cliff “Gideon” Van Meter at Starchilde Publications (publishers of Justifiers and Guardians) and back in the late ’80s/early ’90s. He later spent time working in comics with Valiant and Acclaim and had the singular honor of being the last Acclaim Comics employee, going down with the ship. Still, he didn’t let that stop him.
I saw James at Gen Con a couple years ago. He was working with a company that was about to bring a South American collectible card game into America. I don’t know whatever happened to that game. Still, it was great to see James again and hear his laugh that one last time.
Last week, my wife Ann participated in a “poverty simulation exercise” for people who work with the impoverished. Ann is a school social worker who concentrates on helping out homeless students, so she sees a lot of this in her job. The Janesville Gazette ran an article about the exercise and how it worked. The paper ran a photo of Ann with the article, but the website is not graced with it.
As Ann described the event, I immediately recognized it as a live-action roleplaying game. It would not have been out of place at any gaming convention, with the exception that the players were there to learn rather than to have fun. This was a simulation, not entertainment. Coincidentally, Ann played a 12-year-old boy named Matt, and the irony ensued.
We’ve had a lot of rain in Wisconsin this year. A. Lot.
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As I mentioned back in December, Erick Wujick was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and not given long to live. According to his good friend Kevin Siembieda at Palladium Books, Erick lost his ongoing battle yesterday, having turned those six weeks into more than six months.
Although I didn’t know Erick well—we’d talked a few times over the years—I always respected him and his work. My heart goes out to all those who loved him and will rightfully miss him. If you’d like, you can stop by his memorial website and leave a note.
It turned out to be a long weekend filled with ups and downs, but I figured that going into it. I spent most of the day Saturday visiting my father in the hospital. He’s doing better, although he has a ways to go yet. Still, signs are good, and I’ll take that whenever I can get it.
Sunday, we’d planned to have an outdoor birthday party for the quads, but the thunderstorms and tornadoes that have been hammered the area kiboshed that. Instead, we packed 30 or so people into our house for the big event.
Today is the sixth anniversary of the most amazing and life-shaking day I’ve ever had: the day my quadruplets—Pat, Nick, Ken, and Helen Forbeck—were born. They finish kindergarten this week, and I couldn’t be prouder of them. They’re all great, wonderful kids with intriguing, inquisitive, and distinctive personalities. Watching them—and their older brother Marty—grow is the greatest joy my wife Ann and I have.
One reason I enjoy freelancing so much is that it gives me the chance to spend so much time with my kids. It’s hard for me to contemplate having to work a 9-to-5 job that would keep me from them for the bulk of their waking hours. I’m looking forward to seeing even more of them this summer now that I’m back to working out of my house again.
So, here’s to you, Pat, Nick, Ken, and Helen! Thanks for joining our family—and more than doubling its size in a single day! I love you all.
On Memorial Day, my father checked into the ER and was told he’d be staying in a hospital for a while. Today, he’s been moved into the intensive care unit due to further complications from multiple conditions. If you have any good vibes, thoughts, prayers to spare, please send them his way.
When we moved into a bigger house last November, we needed a new lawn mower. We’re on just under an acre, and our old electric push-mower wasn’t going to manage it. With the cold weather already here in Wisconsin, I wouldn’t have to worry about it until the spring, but the day would some soon.
On Black Friday, I spotted a great deal on a robotic lawnmower on Amazon.com. For under $1,000, I could pick up a top-of-the-line mower that would cut the grass for me—and transform cutting the lawn from a chore into a techy project, something far more in my vein.
As my son Patrick is so excited to tell everyone today, “Happy Patrick’s Day!”
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